Improvement in cotton-presses



NVM. FIELD, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN COTTON-PRESSES. y

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. ISLSSS, dated April G,1858.

To LZZ whom t may con/cern,.-

Be it known that I, VILLIAM FIELD, of the city and county of Providence,State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Cotton and Hay Presses, of

which'the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accom panying drawings, forming part of thisspecilication, in which- Figure l represents a perspective view of apress combining my improvements. Fig. 2 represents an elevation of thesame, showing the arrangement of the chains and side plates. Fig. 3represents a plan of the top girt of the press, with the chains. Fig. 4represents a modification in the arrangement of the female screw or nutin thetop girt, in order to avoid raising and lowering the sweeps.

My improvements in presses relate to that class in which two followersare used, so arranged as to move toward and from each other, and betweenwhich the material is pressed; and the object of my improvements is torelieve the supporting-frame of the press from strain, and transmit thepower and motion through one follower to the other, instead of, as hasheretofore been done, applying the power to each follower respectively,thereby simplifying the construction of the press, diminishing the cost,and rendering it less liable to derangement.

My invention for effecting this object consists, first, in connectingthe followers with each other by chains or any other flexible connectionso arranged that the motion imparted to the upper follower istransmitted by it to the lower, whereby the power is also applieddirectly to one instead of both followers; sccond, in arranging thechains connecting the followers, and also the screw that gives motion tothe upper follower, so that the strain of the screw on one side of thetop of the press is counterbalanced by the strain of the chains on theopposite side, by which means the strain of the press is borne by thetop girt alone, and not, as in all other presses, transferred to. theframe, thereby requiring it to be made of great strength, in order toresist the stress upon the frame; third, in protecting the chains frombeing clogged, and also making the box ofthe press independent of theframe by means of guard-plates extending upward from the lower followerand downward from the girt, overlapping each other, and thus forming theends of the box.

In the accompanying drawings a press embracing my improvements isrepresented. A strongly-framed platform, A, has tenoned to it twoupright posts, B, which form the supports for the press. To the top ofthe posts is bolted the girt or ca'p F of the press, and through thecenter of the cap, working in a nut, h, passes a powerful screw, g,which connectsl at its lower end with a follower, D. This follower D isconnected with a lower follower, E, by means of four chains, c, whichpass from the top of the upper follower (two at each end) through thecap, thence lengthwise of it, and again through it and outside the upperfollower, and con nects'with gu ard-plates a, hinged to the ends of thelower follower. Thus the two followers are connected with each other, sothat when thev upper follower is run down by the screw the lower one israised proportionally. Each of the chains passes over twofriction-pulleys, f, in the girt F, arranged opposite the points throughwhich they pass the girt. Two other guard-plates, Z), are hinged to theunder side of the cap F, pass outside the ,end of the upper follower, D,and extend down between the chains and upper follower below the top ofthe lower guard-plate when the lower follower is level with theplatform, and protect the chain from being clogged by hay, cotton, orother material being entangled in the links. These guard-plates a b formthe ends ofthe box of the press, while the doors c, hinged to eitherside of the posts, inclose the press and form the sides of the box intowhich the material to be pressed is thrown. The screw of the press maybe turned by animal-power or any other motor. In the present instance itis arranged for animal-power, which is applied to inclined sweeps J,extending from pyramidal-shaped frame II, which is bolted to the ends offour arms, G, connected with each other at the center and coupled withthe head of the screw. These sweeps rise and fall with the screw; butthis may be avoided by making the nut turn in the cap insteadof thescrew, as seen in Fig. 4. The nut ik has a central liange, o, which litsa recess inthe cap F and turns on frictionrollers which run in grooveson cach side of the flange and in the cap. The arms of the nut extendbeyond the frame of the press, and in the end of each arm is a socket,Z, for holding the sweeps. It will be seen that the descent of the upperfollower raises the lower proportionally, and that frein the arrangementof the chains passing` from the end of the follower to the opposite endof the other, the followers retain their parallelism to each other,however unequal' the resistance at either end, caused by irregularpacking` of the material. The cap of the press alone bears the strain of`the screw and chains, and by their arrangecotton and hay presses, whatI elaini therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

l. rlhe arrangement of the chains, or their equivalent, connecting thefollowers so that by applying power and inotion to one follower it istransmitted to the other, and also the followers retain theirparallelism to each other, however unequal the resistance at either end.

2. The combination of the screw for raising' the upper follower with thechains or their equivalent for raising the lower, when arranged asdescribed, for the purposes set forth.

3. rlhe guard-plates,in combination with the followers, for the purposedescribed.

In testimonywhereof I have subscribed in y naine.

VM. FIELD.

XVi tu JOHN S. llloLLiNcsHnAD, Jol-1N DAvis.

